Topic: Student outcomes
Blog Post
September 10, 2026
Evaluating the Promise and Value of 90-Credit Bachelor’s Degrees
Earning a bachelor’s degree is still one of the surest routes to economic mobility. But affordability concerns, changing student needs, and a shifting labor market are raising the pressure on states and colleges to demonstrate that a degree is really worth it. In response, an increasing number of states are authorizing bachelor’s degrees that require as few as 90 credits, rather than the 120 credits or more that most bachelor’s degrees require. Their stated goals are to help students earn…
Upcoming Event
September 17, 2026
Transfer Explorer Learning Network
Join the next installment of the Transfer Explorer Learning Network to learn how institutions are using Transfer Explorer to improve the transfer process, streamline campus workflows, and make information more accessible. On September 17 at 3:00 PM ET, guest speakers from participating institutions will share their experiences implementing and launching Transfer Explorer, including lessons learned and plans for incorporating the tool into their work. Ithaka S+R will also present the latest usage data and other relevant analytics. Attendees will…
Research Report
August 20, 2026
Beyond Access
Policy and Collaboration in Addressing Student Basic Needs Insecurity
Students’ ability to succeed in higher education is closely tied to their access to food, housing, technology, transportation, mental health, and other essential support. While a range of public benefits programs and institutional initiatives aim to address these basic needs, access to support is often shaped by a complex and fragmented policy environment. State and federal policy related to basic needs has a direct impact on the support students can access.
Blog Post
August 5, 2026
PanelPicker Is Open for SXSW EDU 2027
Vote for Sessions on Microcolleges, Learner Success, and AI Literacy
Each year, we look forward to bringing innovative projects and research to SXSW EDU 2026, where we connect, learn, and collaborate with an active and engaged community. This year, we’re proposing three sessions—a panel, a presentation, and an interactive workshop—that explore timely topics across higher education, from nontraditional colleges and learner-centered educational pathways to AI literacy.
Blog Post
July 15, 2026
Building the State Case for ASAP Replication
From Evidence to Action
The City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) model offers one of the most rigorously tested initiatives available, proven to double graduation rates at CUNY and replication sites across the country. With support from ECMC Foundation, Ithaka S+R has worked with the CUNY ASAP replication team over the past year to build a suite of resources that help states and systems explore the benefits of CUNY ASAP by identifying the model’s potential to address the state’s…
Blog Post
July 14, 2026
Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Part-Time Learners
Our new report, Part Time, Full Potential: Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Part-time Learners, supported by Arnold Ventures, examines who part-time learners are, the barriers they face, and where targeted research and reform could have the greatest impact on improving their outcomes. …
Research Report
July 14, 2026
Part Time, Full Potential
Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Part-Time Learners
Part-time students represent about one-quarter of all undergraduate students at four-year institutions and nearly two-thirds at two-year institutions, yet they complete credentials at roughly half the rate of their full-time peers. These gaps are driven primarily by constraints due to work schedules, caregiving obligations, and limited financial aid, rather than by student characteristics or motivation. Added to this, the systems meant to support postsecondary success are largely designed for students who can attend full time.
Blog Post
June 24, 2026
The Geography of Postsecondary Pursuit
Strengthening Enrollment, Support, and Workforce Outcomes for Rural Learners
About 60 million individuals—roughly 19 percent of the US population—live in rural areas. Rural students graduate high school at higher rates than the national average (90 percent, compared to 87 percent nationally), yet only 19 percent of them go on to obtain a postsecondary degree, below the national average of 33 percent. Fewer rural students enroll in college, and when they do, they are more likely to drop out before obtaining a credential. That’s why Ithaka S+R recently launched the…
Past Event
July 19, 2026
Sick of Credit Mobility Systems That Don’t Talk? Join a Movement in the Making!
This interactive session with the Credit Mobility Technology Collaboration and Interoperability Partnership—which includes members such as AACRAO, NASH, Arizona State University, ITHAKA Transfer Explorer, and the AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network—will explore and co-develop solutions for interoperability and data standards. The session is scheduled for July 19 in Arlington, Virginia.
Blog Post
June 12, 2026
Welcoming Ithaka S+R’s 2026 Summer Interns
Ithaka S+R is delighted to welcome four summer interns who will contribute to projects across our higher education research and advisory portfolios: Jennifer Butler, Beza Taddess, William Redding, and Brianna Zichettella. Jennifer Butler, a PhD student in sociology and social policy at Princeton University, will join the American Talent Initiative (ATI) team, contributing research and content development on topics related to bachelor’s degree attainment, access, persistence, and student success. Beza Taddess, a PhD student in sociology at Princeton University…
Blog Post
June 10, 2026
Three Perspectives on the AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success
In April, we had the opportunity to attend the 2026 AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success, or CLASS, in Tucson, Arizona. This year’s conference centered around the theme of courageous care, with sessions exploring topics from campus culture and community building to the current state of AI literacy initiatives for students and staff. During the conference, we facilitated a roundtable discussion on integrating undergraduate teaching with generative AI, sharing insights from Ithaka S+R projects exploring AI in…
Past Event
June 11, 2026
Leadership Unlocked
Using Assessment Data to Enhance Leadership Development Opportunities for FGLI Students
Encouraging first-generation student participation in meaningful leadership opportunities is a core feature of the Kessler Scholars Program, supporting more than 1,200 first-generation and low-income students nationwide. At the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education, Jennifer May-Trifiletti, Kristen Glasener, and Chrystle Greene will share how they use assessment data to strengthen leadership experiences for peer mentors and student advisory board members, highlighting adaptable strategies other institutions can apply to assess and improve opportunities for student leadership.
Past Event
June 3, 2026
Postsecondary Value Convening
In 2024, Arnold Ventures, the Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and Strada Education Foundation partnered to fund a set of applied research projects aimed at closing the gap between what we know about student success and what policymakers can actually do about it. Through a competitive RFP process they commissioned thirteen projects focused on three interlocking topic areas: institutional improvement and support; accountability in diverse institutional contexts; and governance and structural dynamics. This full-day, in-person convening brings together the researchers…
Past Event
June 13, 2026
“I just wanted to take a different path”
On the Cultural Assets that Sustain First-Generations in Higher Education and the Workplace
Behind every data point about first-generation student success is a story of resilience, negotiation, and aspiration. This session at the NASPA Conference on Student Success in Higher Education will bring those stories to the forefront through findings from a qualitative study of graduate, first-generation, BIPOC library professionals. Grounded in Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, we will invite attendees to rethink first-generation identity through an intersectional, strengths-based lens and explore how these insights can inform more inclusive programs, services, and support…
Past Event
June 10, 2026
Improving Transfer Outcomes
Tools & Strategies that Support Student Success
Transfer pathways are a common journey for many students, but too often, students lose credits, time, money, and momentum along the way. The good news? There are emerging tools and advising practices that can help change that. Join this webinar on June 10 at 2:00-3:00pm ET to explore how practitioners can better support transfer students through stronger advising and smarter use of tools. Presenters from Ithaka S+R will introduce their Holistic Credit Mobility Framework, which helps institutions and partners…
Past Event
August 3, 2026
Different Contexts, Same Challenge
Building Momentum for Holistic Credit Mobility
This session at the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference will draw on the work of the national Holistic Credit Mobility Acceleration Cohort, a year-long community of practice developed in partnership between Ithaka S+R and Complete College America with support from Ascendium Education Group, to examine what it actually takes to move from fragmentation to momentum at scale. Grounded in the Holistic Credit Mobility Framework first published by Ithaka S+R in 2022 and advanced through a 2025 case study report…
Blog Post
May 21, 2026
The Rural Student Success Network Kicks Off
Announcing 17 Members
Late last year, we launched the Rural Student Success Network. The 17 institutions participating in this learning cohort will develop action plans to support student success in three priority areas: helping community college transfer students complete their bachelor’s degrees, enrolling and supporting adult learners, and aligning academic offerings with regional labor market needs.
Past Event
May 21, 2026
Transfer Explorer Learning Network
Reverse Transfer and Why It Matters
Join us on May 21, 2026 at 3pm ET for the next Transfer Explorer Learning Network session. This quarter, we are talking about reverse transfer and how it can be an important pathway to degree completion for students. The session will feature an overview of reverse transfer, why it matters, and the challenges that students and institutions may encounter. Then, we will hear from guest speaker Dr. David Yancey of Coastal Carolina University, who will share insights from the real…
Blog Post
April 14, 2026
Making Credit Count
How Transparency Can Improve Transfer Outcomes
A new report from Ithaka S+R, Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility: Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer, explores how improving transparency around credit transfer can shape student outcomes. Drawing on administrative data from nearly 30,000 students across the CUNY system, the study offers new evidence on what it takes to support meaningful academic progress after transfer.
Research Report
April 14, 2026
Academic Momentum and Credit Mobility
Examining the Role of CUNY’s Transfer Explorer
This report examines whether using T-REX is associated with improved early transfer outcomes for CUNY students who move from a CUNY community college to a CUNY bachelor’s-degree-granting college. Using administrative data for first-time vertical transfer students initiating transfer between Fall 2020 and Spring 2025, we compare outcomes for students who logged in to T-REX before or during the year they transferred and students who did not. We focus on two outcomes measured at the bachelor’s-degree-granting college: (1) the total number…